Forgetten Memories
by wanderingLily
Summary: There's a girl that can't remember anything. Who is she, how will she effect John Sheppard? It is semialternate universe and will soon have some romance.AN:Those who read the original chapter, I rewrote it and I think it is rather better than the origin
1. New Chapter 1 a rewrite

Forgotten Memories---Chapter 1 (rewrite)

A/N: This is a rewrite of the first chapter. I understand where BiteMeTechie and Trialia were coming from and I think they, and everyone, will like this chapter better. Even I like the chapter better, but hey everyone has different opinions.

But just know that I won't rewrite every chapter. I'm only doing this because after I had posted the first chapter I thought of other things I could have done to make it better but until BiteMeTechie and Trialia said anything, I was going to leave it how it was, but well, here it is.

Thanks for the reviews Sophie Fatale, A.L. Ross and EmSyd, along with BiteMeTechie and Trialia. A.L.Ross: Trust me that Carson will be making appearances.

Now, enjoy chapter 1.5 and review if you wish.

Lily

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Colonel Carter, Colonel Mitchell, Doctor Jackson, Teal'c, and Vala were all sitting with General O'Neill in his living room on a rainy night, betting beers on how long it would be before Daniel or Sam started boring the living daylights out of all of them.

"I say Sam's going to break in…" Jack said as he looked down at his watch. "Ten, nine…"

"Hey," Sam said, glaring at him as he continued.

"Seven, six…"

"I'll have you know that I have no intent of talking about work tonight."

"Two…" Jack looked up expectantly at Sam.

She bit her lip before saying, "Well, there's that problem with the dialing system that I have to run a diagnostic on."

"Okay, pay up," Jack said, proud of his ability to predict Sam so easily.

Mitchell and Vala pushed two bottles forward. Daniel and Teal'c (who had loosened up since coming to the SGC) smiled when they saw Sam looking amusedly offended.

"I'll have you know that I would have made it if you hadn't put so much pressure on it."

"Whatever you need to tell yourself," Jack said, opening one of Colonel Mitchell's beers and taking a sip from it.

As they continued to joke, there was a sudden knock on the door. "Were you expecting someone, sir?" Mitchell asked.

"No," Jack said getting up and heading for the door. "And don't call me 'sir.' We're off duty for Pete's sake."

"Sorry si—" Jack glared at him, and he quickly altered what he was about to say. "Jack. Okay, that's too weird."

When Jack opened the door, there was a girl, probably in elementary school, drenched from head to toe from all the rain coming down. "Um," Jack said, looking from the girl in the soaked navy blue zipper sweatshirt and camouflage cargo pants. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Before the girl had a chance to say anything, Daniel asked Jack jokingly, "Don't you think she's a little young for you Jack?"

Jack threw him a disgusted look. "That isn't even funny Daniel. I've never even seen her, let alone met her, until right now."

"General O'Neill, I need to talk to you," the girl said before anyone could comment on O'Neill's last remark.

"You were saying?" Vala said, talking a gulp from her beer to cover up her smile.

"Please," the girl said stopping Jack mid-turn. "I don't know where I am, or how I know any of you but my gut led me here and then it was like something popped into my mind. And I don't know where else to go. I tried Doctor Jackson's apartment, Colonel Mitchell's place, even Colonel Carter's house. I would have tried someone else, but this is where I ended up next. I can't remember anyone else who is involved with the Stargate program."

Everyone's jaws dropped, confused as to how a girl so young, especially one that no one seemed able to recognize, could know all about the Stargate and yet claim to not remember anything.

General O'Neill, reacting first, brought the girl inside. "Why don't you go into the bathroom and I'll bring you something dry to change into?"

The girl walked down to the door that Jack had pointed her towards in utter silence.

When the door was closed, Jack walked down the hall towards his bedroom to get the girl something dry to wear that wouldn't swallow her in a mass of fabric, but not without a look at the others and saying in a very un-Jack way, "Someone better start explaining."

No one said a word while he was gone, just looking back and forth as they tried to figure out what had just happened. After five minutes, Jack returned from his room, a rather old Air Force training tee-shirt and some old pants no one could recognize. He genteelly knocked on the door and when the girl opened it, her dark brown hair still wet from all the rain that had soaked through the fabric of her sweatshirt hood, he passed them through to her, saying kindly, "There are some clean towels in the cabinet to the right of the shower if you want to dry your hair some."

When the girl had closed the door after a quick "Thank you," Jack came back into the room, a look on his face as if he was trying very hard not to look too much like an angry general.

"So," he began, "who wants to explain?"

Daniel spoke first, failing to keep the confused interest out of his voice. "I've never seen her before, but her not remembering anything but top secret information seems like it calls us to look into it."

"Well thank you Mister Obvious." Jack said, in the way he only did when he was getting tired of Daniel or Sam's rambling. "But how does she know that we all work for the Stargate?"

Before Daniel could recover, Vala decided to speak. "Maybe we should question her."

"Ah, Daniel, now you have a Misses Obvious. I would just like to know why I wasn't invited to the wedding." Jack said, trying to stay calm. Everyone knew he preferred to act without having to think, but as a general on the outside workings of the SGC, he seemed at this particular moment to be trying to keep spontaneous action out of the current situation. "We still need to figure out who will question her, as to not cause any problems, and how someone's gut can lead them so far."

"I'll do it, sir," Sam volunteered. "But it might help to know exactly what you want to know."

"I need her name, age, the last thing she remembers, how she got her, and who told her about the Stargate." Jack said seriously. "And remember, everything's on a need to know basis."

"Yes, sir," Sam said, standing up just as the door to the bathroom creaked slowly open and the girl emerged.

The dry clothed Jack had given her were big and baggy on her (no surprise). She was holding the waist of the pants so that they didn't keep slipping past her ankles and the shirt, though judging on it's size had long since been out grown by Jack, was like a giant's shirt on a snail, she was so small.

"Hi," Sam said, putting on the voice that she had used when they had first found Cassandra all those years ago. "What's your name?"

"Josephine," she said a little nervously, as if afraid that she would get the answer wrong and everyone in the room would get mad at her.

"Nice to meet you Josephine. I'm—" Sam started, but Josephine interrupted.

"Colonel Samantha Carter, I know. And then this is General jack O'Neill," she said, indicating him, before indicating everyone else correctly in turn. "And that's Doctor Daniel Jackson, Colonel Cameron Mitchell, Teal'c, and Vala."

Sam smiled courteously at Josephine. "Do you think we could talk a little?"

Josephine nodded slowly before Sam signaled for the others to head for the kitchen.

When they were out of the room, Sam sat down on the couch and indicated for Josephine to do the same. When she sat on the very edge of the couch, Sam spoke. "So, how old are you Josephine?"

"To tell the truth, I'm not really a hundred percent sure, but I think I'm eight."

"What's the last thing you remember?" Sam said, a little confused by her last answer.

"Walking through the rain from Doctor Jackson's house to Colonel Mitchell's place to your house, and then here."

"But they're all so far apart."

"It's what I remember. I was trying to find someone who might be able to help me figure out who I was and that's where I felt myself being led."

"Why do you need someone to help you find out who you are? Don't you have any family?"

"All I know for sure is that my mom died along time ago and that somehow a knowledge she had of the Stargate was transferred to me. I can't remember my dad, but I figured if anyone could help me remember, it would be you. And if I got my memory back, then maybe I'd be able to figure out who my dad was."

Sam was beginning to feel sorry for the girl, but had too know just how much she knew. "And what makes you think there's such a thing as a Stargate?"

"As I was walking, I found something in my pockets that jogged that part of my memory." She stood suddenly, walking quickly to the bathroom before Sam could stop her. Just as Sam made it to the door of the bathroom, Josephine came back out, holding two photograph sized pieces of paper. "I found this one in the pocket of my sweatshirt and that refreshed my memory of the Stargate." She turned it to Sam, who gasped.

It was a picture of a Stargate that had been taken by Daniel once of SG-1 with a few of the Tokra after one of their relocations. Sam was smiling next to her dad, Teal'c had a completely straight face except for a raised eyebrow next to a black haired guy Sam remembered being named Roka, and Jack was beaming next to a blonde girl Sam recalled going by Soaphime, who had later asked to be allowed to stay on Earth when the Tokra council had stopped listening to her because of the ideas that she had had. They had been good ideas, but a little too forward for the Tokra.

Josephine, without seeming to notice Sam's reaction, flipped it over. "These symbols are an address as far as I can tell, but for where I don't know."

Sam recognized them, of course. They were all on the Stargate, though for what planet Sam couldn't quite figure out. _There's one too many symbols, _Sam thought, _but it's not Atlantis._

Josephine shuffled it under the other paper, a letter to someone that was hard to make out. Someone had either cried on it on delivery or while writing it, causing the ink to smudge, but from what Sam could make out, it was Soaphime explaining that her Tokra was dying and that she would only be able to live long enough for…well Sam couldn't read that part but she assumed it was only long enough to save Josephine. "It's a little hard to make out, but when I found this in one of my pant pockets, I knew what it was. My mom had been allowed to stay here after something between her and the Tokra happened. But her Tokra couldn't sustain her after me apparently. I'm not sure she intend this letter for, but I assume that she either never sent it, or someone left it behind after an attempt to find her before she died."

Sam felt a shiver run up her spin. This was getting a little creepy. "Will you excuse me for a minute?"

Josephine nodded, staring down at the letter as if it would suddenly tell her everything she wanted to know about her past.

Sam led her to the living room before heading to the kitchen. When she opened the door to the kitchen, she glanced back at Josephine, who was still staring at the letter. She closed the door softly, before turning to see Jack and all the others looking at her expectantly. "She knows more than I thought." Sam said as evenly as possible.

"Why do you say that?" Jack, who was sitting on the counter sipping a beer, asked.

"She has proof. You remember that day a while back when Daniel took that picture of us after that one relocation of the Tokra?"

Daniel and jack nodded their heads and Teal'c said "Yes" before Sam continued. "Well, she has a copy of it with what seems to be a gate address on the back."

"'Seems to be'?" Jack asked quizzically.

"Yeah, it has one too many symbols, and it's not Atlantis. I can't be sure without looking in the Atlantis mainframe, but it might be a gate there."

Jack sighed, "What else makes you say that she knows more than you thought?"

"Well, sir, you remember Soaphime, right?" When he nodded, she continued. "Well, she had been allowed to stay here on Earth after she and the Tokra decided to go their separate ways and Josephine has a letter from her to someone about how her tokra would only be able to sustain her until she had a baby, and I think, and from what Josephine said, apparently she—"

"Sam," Jack said, getting a little impatient. "Can you just get to the point?"

"Yes, sir. Soaphime's child is Josephine."

Everyone stayed silent but they all looked shocked. Well, everyone but Jack, who seemed determined to get to the bottom of this ASAP.

"How do you suggest that we get her memory back and find out where exactly this address goes?"

"Well, as I said the only way to know if it's a real address is to look in the Atlantis mainframe and dialing computer. And the fastest way to get her memory back is to use the device that we used to get Vala's memory back, but McKay had it shipped to Atlantis for some study he's doing and it won't be back for a while."

"So you suggest that you take Josephine with you to kill two birds with one stone so to speak?"

"Yes, sir, I do." Sam said, looking him straight in the eye.

"Alright, she knows about the gate already, it's not like it can hurt anything more. I'll arrange for the Daedalus to take you tomorrow morning. Until then, take her to the SGC and have her bunk there. One guard just incase."

"Do you mind if I stay with her instead?"

Jack slid off the counter, sighing and running a hand through his short grey hair. "Alright, but if you leave the room for any reason, I want someone stationed there just incase she remembers something."

And with that, the party was over and everyone left for the SGC to get ready to depart the next morning.


	2. Chapter 2 Remember

3

Forgotten Memories---Chapter 2: Remember

A/N- Hello to all. I'm writing this before the second post has been up for 24 hours, but I'll be hopeful and say thanks to all the people who stuck around. I'm following chapter 2 (rewrite of chapter 1 to be exact). I hope you enjoy this. If you don't know hard feelings, if you do I'm happy. If you feel the overwhelming urge to review (or just feel like making my day by letting me know that you've read my story D)

And yes, they will be finally reaching Atlantis.

Lily

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Enough said.

John came rushing down the stairs, wondering what was wrong. One of the lieutenants that had arrived on the Daedalus when it had brought that mind thing that Rodney had wanted study for a project to assist. _It's just a pity she doesn't look more like Carter for Rodney's sake_, John thought as he came to a halt where Elizabeth was waiting for him in front of the gate.

"What's wrong?" John asked Elizabeth, who was smiling at him.

"Just SG-1 bringing a girl that needs to use the memory machine and Sam needs to look up and address."

John felt a little embarrassed for running from his golf game just to hear that SG-1 was coming. "But the lieutenant said that it was urgent."

"I just wanted to see if you'd realize that there's only one team off world that is on a safe planet and unless all of a sudden attacked by the Wraith and the citizens all died, then there wouldn't be an emergency and even if there was, I have quicker ways of contacting you while you're hitting golf balls into the water."

John tried desperately to hide his embarrassment at how quickly he had gotten here by making a small joke. "Well, I was afraid that Rodney might come and find me and start explaining for what has to be the millionth time what exactly he wants to gain from studying the device."

"Well then maybe I'll have to tell Rodney to eat with you today." Elizabeth said, smiling teasingly at John.

Before John could come up with a witty come back, Sam, Daniel, Mitchell, Teal'c, Vala, and a young brown haired girl appeared before them. As Elizabeth was welcoming them all to Atlantis, John looked over the girl. She was short (no small surprise for an eight year old girl's height compared to a full grown Air force colonel who daily put his life in great danger) and well tanned. As he began to examine her even more closely, he noticed something that caused him to freeze completely. Her eyes…they were purple and reminded him of the most perfect lavender pedal. They reminded him of someone he had been trying for so long to force from his memory…someone he had never been able to force far enough from his mind. Someone he had…

"Colonel Sheppard?" Elizabeth said, jerking him from the images that had been running through his head to find everyone staring at him. "Is everything all right?"

"Of course, was just thinking of something I forgot." he said (not entirely a lie), putting on a smile.

"Well, then since you seem to have spaced out, let me introduce you to Josephine. She's the one who needs to get her memory back and found the address that Sam needs to look up."

"Colonel John—" John began, but Josephine interrupted.

"Sheppard," she finished her voice a simple sweetness. "I know."

John raised his eyebrow nervously. "Oh really?"

"Yes," Josephine replied.

"She seems to only remember information about the Stargate program." Daniel explained when john continued to raise his eyebrow questioningly.

"Ah, hence the immediate need to get back her memory." John said, smiling down at her, feeling a little relieved that no one seemed be thinking what he was thinking just moments before.

Josephine returned the smile, but didn't say anything.

"Well," Daniel said, breaking the silence. "Where is Doctor McKay? The sooner we get started on trying to get back her memory, the sooner we'll be able to find out about the address and everything else she had with her."

"And the sooner I can figure out if I do have any family left," Josephine muttered, but no one but Colonel Sheppard seemed to be the only one who had heard, or unable to pretend not to hear.

"Well then, I'll take you all to Rodney." John said, trying hard to keep his voice even.

Sam tried to cover a cringe at the thought of being force into small talk with the guy who tended to have a look on his face that showed that he undressing her with his eyes. "I think I'll just start on the dialing computer." And before anyone could argue, though no one intended to, she headed off for the room with the dialing computers.

Everyone smiled inwardly before walking off towards where McKay was researching the device. Before they got very far, however, Sam came rushing back. "Colonel, just a minute, I have something for you from General O'Neill."

Everyone stopped for a second, as john waited for Sam to pull out an envelope, with his name scribbled across the front in General O'Neill's writing.

After Sam had left and the procession began again in the direction of Rodney's lab, John lagged behind, ripping open the letter. It was a simply note that read as follows:

Colonel Sheppard,

I believe that you will find yourself closer to Josephine than the others. I believe you know exactly what I'm talking about. So don't be stupid and waste time getting to know her.

General Jack O'Neill

Sheppard took a gulp, realizing just how quickly the secret John had been keeping for so long could go down the toilets. He now realized just how soon the shield that he had been carrying for so long he had barely notice still being up until today when the threat of it being ripped away in seconds was standing on a cliff.


	3. Chapter 3 Recall

6

Forgotten Memories---Chapter 3: Recall

A/N- Sorry this chapter took so long, but school is crazy. I'm there about 12 hours everyday except weekends (and no, I'm not exaggerating).

I can't think of anything else to say at the moment other than that for those of you sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for Carson, he'll be entering the story soon (maybe not this chapter, but soon.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I wish I did, but I don't. Let's move on.

When John caught up with the rest of them after taking a few deep calming breaths, they had almost made it to the door of the lab.

"Is everything alright?" Elizabeth asked when John had reached her side. She always seemed to know now when something was on Sheppard's mind.

"Yeah, fine," John answered, looking behind him at Josephine. _I can't believe that she's mine..._John thought. _Alright, that's a lie, I do believe it. But it's just weird…when I tried to find out whether or not the baby had survived, all I found were dead ends._ "It's just weird."

Elizabeth looked at him confusedly. "What's weird?"

_Oh, right, doesn't know_, John thought. He considered telling her for a second, but figuring now was not the time for explanations, he decided to wait. "Just that there's an eight-year-old girl that can't remember anything about herself except her name and age, but maintains what I take to be an entire knowledge of a top secret program."

"You really spaced, didn't you?" Elizabeth asked as the doors to the lab McKay was using for his research study slid open. When john just looked bewildered as to what she meant, she elaborated. "Apparently Josephine is the daughter of a women who had a Tokra sustaining her. When the women died, because the Tokra couldn't survive after having to sustain two lives, it seems that some sort of weird genetic fail safe took over, placing all the knowledge that they both had of the Stargate operation into her mind. At least, that's the guess of Doctor Jackson and Colonel Carter."

"Did some one mention Colonel Carter?" McKay asked crawling out from underneath a nearby table with the memory device was sitting on.

Everyone in the room chose to ignore this question, Daniel speaking first. "We need to use the memory device."

Rodney's face fell. "What do you mean? It only just got here."

"Yeah, we know, it's been nothing but fun ever since I'm sure. But Josephine here needs to remember ASAP." Mitchell said, signaling Josephine to come forward from her place next to Daniel.

"Isn't she sort of young for security clearance?" McKay asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked down at her skeptically.

"Exactly why we need to use the device McKay," John said, only to receive an inquiring look. John sighed, exasperated with McKay's usual stubbornness. "Apparently, she doesn't remember anything except for the top secret information about the Stargate program, and we would like to know why."

Rodney looked back at Josephine; she looked at him meaningfully, with puppy dog eyes only an eight-year-old could perfect. "Please Doctor McKay. I just want to know who I am."

Rodney continued to look down at her, seeming to be locked in battle as he weighed his options. "Fine," he said defeated, stepping aside. "I guess it's as good a time as any to test my work."

This caused John to stick an arm out to stop Josephine from stepping closer. "Test what, exactly?"

Rodney rolled his eyes. "I explained it to this morning at breakfast," McKay replied, agitation in his voice.

"Well then humor me," John said. When McKay just stood there defiantly, john reached into his pocket and pulled out the lemon he always carried around. "Don't make me use this."

A look of utter fear spread across Rodney's face. "Well, if you're going to use threats, then I'll tell you. I've been theorizing on how to make the device more useful and not just recover memory, but make it so that it places a safe guard on you mind, making it so that you can never loose your memory again or have someone hack into your mind to get the information they want."

"And you're sure it works?" John asked.

"In theory," McKay replied. When John didn't lower his arm, McKay rolled his eyes. "I ran a simulation not long ago, and it turned out fine. I just finished rerunning the circuits when you came in and distracted me. It is perfectly safe."

John didn't move for a moment, not wanting anything to happen to Josephine before he had a chance to get to know her. When he couldn't think of a legitimate reason for continuing to stall, he lowered his arm for Josephine to proceed to the chair in front of the device and put away the lemon. He did not by any means, however, look away from Rodney the entire time.

Once Josephine was set up for the process, Rodney placed himself on the other side of the table staring down at the reading on his computer. Daniel moved so that he was standing next to her, feeling that it was the best idea incase anything went wrong. Everyone else circled around the table, watching as Rodney began the procedure.

Minutes passed in silence. Nothing seemed to be wrong. Rodney was satisfied with the data he was getting and Josephine was sitting there with merely a look on her face that no one could quite recognize. But…

All of a sudden, Rodney's computer began to bleep annoyingly. "Oh no," Rodney muttered, just audible over the now persistent ringing.

"What's wrong?" John demanded.

"I have no idea. Something very bad though." Rodney replied, walking over to the other side of the table to check something on a computer set up to show him just how much of the memory had been regained.

Just as he squinted down at it mystified, Josephine, the look on her face now change to a grimace, reached out and took the zat that Daniel carried in a pouch on leg before anyone could react.

She quickly shot it at Rodney and Daniel with stunningly quick reflexes that no one could explain (what eight-year-old could over take to men that had developed reflexes for shooting without any trouble? was running through everyone's mind.) One of the assistants that had been standing by almost completely unnoticed quickly came forward, shutting off the memory device immediately in an attempt to stop what ever was making Josephine act this way (you can guess what would happen to her).

The rest of the people in the room weren't naïve enough to think that was going to help now. SG-1 took out zats, Teal'c tossing one to both Elizabeth and Sheppard so that they would not have to use bullets.

"Whatever you do, don't hit her twice," Mitchell told them.

John merely stepped forward, holding up his weapon. He hoped that he would be able to talk Josephine back to reality. "Josephine, stop. Everything's going to be okay. No one needs to get hurt. Just lower—"

Before he finished, however, she took aim and attempted to shoot him too. He leapt out of the way just in time, his instincts taking over as he pulled the trigger (if it could even be called that).

She fell to her knees, grabbing the edge of the table, but she wasn't down long. She quickly stood and aimed again. John threw himself behind the table nearest him, throwing down his zat. "Well that didn't work," he said to Colonel Mitchell, who was the closest person to him.

"Well it should have," he responded, throwing his own down and searching for something that wouldn't harm her. "Especially considering that she's just a kid."

"Apparently that doesn't matter much, so why don't we get a plan before she breaks something." Elizabeth said, having scooted over without Josephine noticing, who was now going through everything in the lab as if forgetting anyone had ever been there.

"What do you suggest?" Colonel Mitchell inquired, coming up with nothing.

"What about an actual shot?" Vala suggested, both she and Teal'c having joined the little party.

"You're kidding, right?" John asked incredulously.

"Not to kill her, just to wound her, maybe knock her out, so that we can get her to the infirmary, where Carson can try to reverse what ever made her act this way." Elizabeth chimed in.

"That's not a bad idea." Mitchell said.

John sighed. "Fine, but I don't think a bullet will knock her out."

"No, but a flash grenade might stun her enough to make it help." Vala suggested.

"Plus the shot you got her with did indeed weaken her." Teal'c put forth.

John heaved another great sigh, took out his side arm, checking that it was loaded, and, after taking in a deep breath, stood up and moved around the table as Josephine continued to take no notice to anyone else's presence.

"Josephine," John whispered. She didn't seem to hear. "Josephine," he said again, this time louder, stronger. She spun around, quickly aiming the zat at him again. He held up his hands, after sliding his gun into his back pocket. "I don't want to hurt you."

"And yet you plan to shoot me," she said, surprisingly steadily.

"I don't want to." John said as calmly as possible. "I just don't want anything bad to happen."

"I don't know who or what I am and I have a feeling that by the way you're acting, I'm the one who did that." She nodded towards the forms of Daniel and Rodney, who were beginning to move with many moans and groans. "Something bad has already happened."

John frowned. "You mean you don't remember doing that."

This seemed to hit Josephine harder than anything. The serious look that had been on her face evaporated, only to be replaced by a sad frown with a mix of desperate concentration. After a moment of thinking, she shook her head. "What have I done?" she asked shakily, tears welling up in her eyes.

John looked towards Elizabeth, who was watching from behind the table, to see what she thought he should say. But one look told him that she was just as confused as he was. He was on his own. "You haven't done anything." John tried to assure her, but she didn't seem to believe him.

"Please, help me. I didn't mean to do anything." Tears began to escape as she pleaded with him.

John wished he hadn't volunteered for this. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Please." She stood there, looking pitiful. Her legs seemed to not want to hold her and she looked as if she might fall over at any moment.

John got his gun out of his back pocket and aimed as far away from her heart as he could without leaving the chest. "I'm so sorry," he whispered before pulling the trigger, causing her to fall back.

He dropped his gun and raced forward to make sure that she was still breathing. When he felt her exhale, though weak, he let out his own breath.

A/N- Well, bit of a cliffy. Don't worry, I'm working on the next chapter and I'll try not to make the wait too long. If you feel like telling me what you think, hit that review button. You don't have to, but I'll know someone out there actually cares about what happens next if you do, so…yeah.

Lily


	4. Chapter 4 Remarkable

4

Forgotten Memories Chapter 4- Remarkable

So, what's going to happen to Josephine? Will John find that this is his breaking point? Can everything be fixed? (Jeez, do dramatic)

A/N- I love all my readers and for those who were waiting for Carson to make an appearance, this is the time.

Sorry it's been a while since I updated, but hopefully it will have been worth the wait.

Disclaimer: I once read a disclaimer that said that it wasn't the author's kitchen, but they were just cooking in it. The same goes for me.

Everything seemed to be in slow motion now. Elizabeth had called for a med team as Daniel got up and Rodney began to whine about being shot. It felt like hours before Carson arrived with a gurney and even longer before they reached the infirmary.

John stayed outside the door while they were working on her, and it felt like months had gone by when Carson came out of the operation. The whole time John was thinking about how unfair life could be.

"She should be all right." Carson informed him, in that heavy Scottish accent of his.

"Should be?" John nearly yelled.

"I didn't mean it like that." He rubbed his temples, having been in there for nearly six hours. "But it did a right good bit o' damage to the shoulder. Just be glad the bullet didn't get into a vein, otherwise it could have gotten to her heart."

"But she will be alright, right?"

Carson sighed, looking straight at John. "All things considered, one can only hope. She is on an IV and should make it."

"Should!?" John said again.

"Look, she had a fair bit o' bleeding in there. It's rather difficult to tell what's going to happen in a best case scenario with a young lass like her, so excuse me if I'm not getting my hopes up." Carson snapped. When John looked taken aback, he sighed and said, "I'm sorry, but we did all we could. The only thing to do until she's awake is to wait."

"Yeah, I know," John replied, "It's just difficult to take in."

"Aye, couldn't have been easy."

"You don't even know the half of it." John muttered to himself.

"Well, she's been taken to recuperate in our post operating room, so feel free to go and sit with her." Carson said, apparently not hearing John's comment.

"Thanks," John said, but remaining where he was as Carson headed off in that direction.

It took him a while to regain his ability to walk, but once he did, he could not walk fast enough to get there.

As soon as he arrived, Carson going over some resent analysis in a corner, he walked throw row of beds before coming to a stop at the bed furthest away from the door that was now curtained off. He stared down at Josephine, an IV in her arm, wires hooking her up to a heart rate monitor that was beeping reassuringly, and breathing tubes in her nose.

"She looks so small," John said as Carson walked over.

"Eight year olds tend to look small in clothes for adults," Carson said, causing him to jump.

"Not like this." John continued to stare down at her. "Are all those tubes and wires really necessary?"

"I'm afraid so, Colonel. It wasn't a fatal hit, but only because we got there quickly enough and were able to stop most o' the bleeding." John looked up at him worriedly. "Look, Colonel, young lasses like her are not my area o' expertise. I've done all I can think to do. Like I said before, all we can do is wait until she is more stable."

"Sorry, Carson, I'm not blaming you."

"Aye, you must be rather frazzled."

"Yeah, I'm going to sit with her for a while."

Carson gave him a nod with an understanding smile before walking back down the row of beds. "I'll be right over here if you need me."

John walked forward slowly, looking down at Josephine's still face. He didn't change his gaze as he sat down in a chair besides the bed. Her limp hand lay beside her. John looked down at it for a moment before taking it in his own. It fit perfectly between his hands.

i _I can't believe this, i _ John thought. i _Everything pointed to both Soaphime and the baby dying in the hospital during the birth. I searched and searched. Even hospital records pointed to it. So how is she lying before me?_ i 

He could remember the letter he had gotten from the hospital telling him of her death and when the funeral would be. He had been out and was not due back for months, but had appealed to him commanding officer and gotten enough leave to put everything in order and begin a search for his daughter.

He had been unable to dig anything up, but had some friends from basic he had gotten to keep searching until he got back. When he was finally back, he went to every hospital he could think to look at that his friends had not yet tried. He had finally come across a hospital that Soaphime had talked about going to when the time came. It had taken him forever to get the hospital to release information to him. Little hope had remained by the time the hospital finally told him that both had died during childbirth.

And yet, here she was, lying before him, with wires and tubes sticking out of her. Hurt, but alive. Of course, John had a feeling it had something to do with national security, but now he had more questions about what had truly happened all those years ago.

"John?" a familiar voice asked, shaking him from his thoughts.

He looked up quickly, seeing Elizabeth looking down at him. "Yeah?"

"Carson has something he wants to talk to us about Josephine's condition."

John jumped up quickly, laying her hand gently on the bed. John and Elizabeth walked down the aisle of beds as Teyla, Ronan, Rodney, and SG-1 came into the infirmary.

"What is it?" John asked, trying to hide his nervousness about the answer.

"Unbelievably confusing, honestly," Doctor Beckett said, looking down at the screen of the laptop sitting on the desk in the corner of the med bay.

"Why's that?" Carter asked.

"I just got back the MRI scans that we took after the operation to see if we could find anything that would indicate why the machine did what it did."

"I thought that was obvious. McKay screwed up," John responded.

"I don't think that is quite far," Rodney whined. "There has to be something else. Perhaps it can't work on people under a certain age, or—"

"There is something else." Carson interrupted. "But I do not believe it has to do with age."

"Then what does it have to do with?" Elizabeth asked.

"I can't be sure, for I have never witnessed it myself, but we did a scan of the activity in her brain, and look what we found." He moved aside to allow them all to see what he had been looking at.

"Wait a second," Mitchell said just as John was about to ask what exactly they were looking at. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

"If you think it means that she is about a centimeter from the ability to ascend, then you're bloody right Colonel."


	5. Chapter 5 Renowned

5

Forgotten Memories Chapter 5- Renowned

A/N- To all my loyal readers, especially Padme4000, thank you for sticking around. I hope you will all stick around for the end. I'm not sure when that will be, but still, hope you sticking around.

Disclaimer- I don't like lawyers, they're too boring. So I won't even pretend that I own any of this.

"What?!" John exclaimed.

"The only way she could be closer to ascension is if she actually was," Carter said.

"So then it wasn't my fault," McKay muttered, causing everyone to look at him. "Think about for a minute. She doesn't remember anything, the machine didn't work on her. I think she's not close to ascending, I think she i _was _ i ascended."

"You mean to say that she has been on a higher plain of existence?" Teyla asked. "But she is young. Would it not be difficult for her to ascend as child?"

"It would depend. We don't really know that much about it, but if she had enough of the ancient gene, she might have been ascended automatically."

"This may be a stupid question, but would she not have had to die in order to ascend?" Carson asked.

"Maybe she did," John mumbled.

"What do you mean, Colonel?" Elizabeth asked.

John felt nervous as everyone around him looked at him questioningly. "Um…well…I have reason to believe that she might have actually died when she was born." 

"How would you know that?" Carson asked in confusion, expressing the look on everyone's face.

"The note Colonel Carter gave me from General O'Neill said something that put with some other information that led me to that conclusion."

"Thank you Colonel Vague," Rodney said exasperatedly. "Now would you care to expand on that?"

"No, Rodney, I wouldn't. But trust me, I have good reason. So, where does this lead us?"

Everyone stared at him for a moment longer before Carter spoke. "Well, I was looking in your database and the address is one that it said you hadn't visited yet. I tried to dial it but it wouldn't engage. When she wakes up we might want to ask her if she has any idea why."

"And if she doesn't know?" Rodney asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Then we're at the same place as where we started," Sam said. "We don't even know if the address has any significance for us anymore, let alone if the gate is even accessible."

"Exactly, what if it's—" Rodney began before being interrupted by the loud, constant beep of a heart monitors.

Carson ran down the aisle of beds to the curtained bed followed closely by everyone. When he reached her side, he felt for a pulse. "Nothing," he said. He tried CPR and the air bag before moving on to the paddles. As he put them to her chest, she jumped up and down on the bed.

As John looked on helplessly, he seemed to be pulled from reality (like what he had read in a report about what SG-1 had experienced when Daniel was trying to talk to them about letting him ascend. Josephine was standing in the gate room, looking at him, a small smile on her face. Next to her, John realized as his heart skipped, was Soaphime.

"Hi," John said, feeling that he must have fallen into a dream.

"Hello John," Soaphime said, a loving smile on her face.

"What's going on?" John asked.

"I don't want to die again," Josephine said.

"Doctor Beckett is trying to help you."

"We know John." Soaphime stepped towards him slowly, her blonde hair by her shoulders. She seemed more beautiful to John than she had the last time he had seen her, the last time he had looked at her picture before placing it in the last pages of War and Peace. "But it won't help her. She has to be allowed to come back on her own. If you continue to try, she will not be able to remember anything when she wakes up."

"But if he stops, she'll die."

"No John, she is only like this because it is the only way I was able to reach her so that I could return her memory. You have to stop him before he shocks her enough to kill her. We're trying to stop it from effecting her, but neither of us can hold it much longer and this is the only way to tell you about the gate address that Josephine returned to lead you to."

"Tell me then!" John was desperate to speak to her a little longer.

"It would take too much time. We must hurry or it will be lost to you forever. The others are already suspicious."

"But there's so much I want to talk to you about!"

"Please," Josephine pleaded. "You're the only one that can help."

"I promise John," Soaphime said, looking over her shoulder towards the suddenly active gate. "I will find a way to speak to you about everything. But you have to do this first."

And with that, John was returned to the scene in the infirmary. He stepped forward immediately, desperate to do what Soaphime had asked. "Stop," John said, putting a hand on Carson's hand before he could put the paddles to Josephine again.

"John, she'll die." Elizabeth said to him.

"No, she's not dying. She's remembering. She told me. You have to stop or she won't be able to hold on."

"When did she tell you?"

"Just now. She and…she told me that it has to be this way."

Carson looked to Elizabeth for advice on what to do. Elizabeth looked solemnly down at him. "Stop."

Carson put the paddles back, turning off the monitor to stop the beeping. As everyone stood over her, waiting for something, John knelt down next to her, taking her hand in his and whispering so that only Josephine would have been able to hear if she was conscious, "I did what you want. Now don't go some place I can't follow."

Suddenly, as if obeying his request, Josephine's chest rose slightly before falling again. It happened again in a steady pattern.

"This is bloody unbelievable," Carson said after turning the heart beat monitor back on only to fine a steady, healthy 'beep…beep…beep'. "She should be dead."

"I think we should give John a moment with her." Elizabeth said levelly, apparently the only one to notice the tear that had just escaped John's eye.

Everyone complied, Elizabeth ushering Rodney away. She knew something was wrong. John never broke. She made a mental not to ask him why he seemed so attached to Josephine first chance she got.

As the space emptied, John moved into the chair he had sat in earlier. "Josephine?" he whispered softly.

For a moment, nothing happened. John was left staring down at her as she remained still except for her comforting steady breath. Just as John opened his mouth to call to her again, he eyes flickered open.

"Josephine," he said again, swept with relief.

"Thank you," she said softy. "My mom says thank you too."

"What else does your mom say?" John smiled weakly.

"Don't worry, she hasn't forgotten you. I remember now how she much she talked about me, always saying, 'If you get a chance, I hope you end up like your father.'" And with a last smile, she closed her eyes again, falling to sleep.

John sat beside her for hours. He wanted to be there when she woke up again.

As he began to drift off, Elizabeth returned. "John?" she called from the end of the bed, causing him to jerk awake. "Mind if I sit with you?"

When he waved a hand a chair across the bed from him, she moved to it, asking as she went, "How is she doing?"

"Nothing validated by Beckett, but she seems fine." He rubbed his eyes sleepily.

There was a moment's pause before Elizabeth allowed herself to ask him what was burning inside her. "Why do you seem so attached to her?"

John looked up at her in surprise. "I don't know what you mean."

"Sure you do," she said, staring down at Josephine. "You act weird when she first arrives, insist on being the one who tries to pull her out of her little rampage back in Rodney's lab, are found sitting by her bed when Carson wants to talk to us about her, know that she died, tell us that she needs to be left alone so that she can remember, and then I see a tear when she comes back only to find you hours later still at her side. I think I know better than to think that it doesn't all mean something."

John searched desperately for an excuse he could tell her, but deflated when he came up with none. "I just can't tell you right now."

"Fine," Elizabeth said. "But apparently you're not the only one that General O'Neill took the liberty of writing a note to. Apparently he and SG-1 knew her mother. He had been called to the hospital when the mother died in the hospital years ago. He said he didn't know she had been pregnant and had never known what had happened to the child, but he mentioned that if he was to start searching for the kid, that he recommends a DNA test to figure out if it was a certain member of my team's daughter."

John stared at her, and when she looked up at him, he knew that General O'Neill had mentioned him.


	6. Chapter 6 Regarding

5

Forgotten Memories Chapter 6- Regarding

A/N- Okay, Padme4000, since you seem to be the only one listening, I'd like to thank you for continuing to read. As long as you seem interested, I'll keep updating.

I hope you like the chapter.

Disclaimer- I don't own this, never claimed to, never will unless the writers of SGA want to sell it to me for ten bucks.

"He couldn't keep it quiet, could he?"

"I think he figured that it was better I know."

"You know that eventually I would have told you, right?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure he did."

"Well, understandable. I just didn't want it out right now."

"I get that. The last thing you need is Rodney calling Captain Kirk again."

"Yeah, and I was still trying to forget it myself."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

John sighed. "When Soaphime was alive…"

"Soaphime is Josephine's mom?"

"Yeah. When she was alive, we were almost inseparable. When I got the letter that she was pregnant, I knew that she thought something was wrong."

"Colonel Carter told me that Josephine had a letter telling someone that her tokra would die and her along with it. It wasn't to you?"

"No, mine was one of forced cheer, about names, and plans, and baby clothes." John laughed at the memory before regaining a more solemn tone. "It was probably to some one at the SGC, or what she wished she could tell me."

"So what happened?"

"I got a letter months later telling me that she had died in child birth from the Air Force. At the time I didn't quite get why the Air Force sent it and not the hospital, but, of course, now it makes perfect sense. Ever since I finally found out that Josephine hadn't survived either, I've been trying to forget. It's hard when I realize that she and I met because of the Stargate program, but most of the time I can push her far enough out of my mind to pretend that I've forgotten." John smiled slightly. "One of the reasons I brought War and Peace actually, other then it's long enough to last a long time, is that I think I subconsciously didn't want to forget."

"Why is War and Peace important to not forgetting?"

"Because I put a picture of Soaphime and me in the last pages of the book, just incase by the time I finished it I had succeed in forgetting."

They were silent for a moment. "I'm sorry John."

"It's not your fault. I guess her tokra was old and wasn't up to helping two at once. I just wish I had a chance to say good bye, tell her again how I felt."

"Did she ascend?"

"Yeah, she was with Josephine to tell me that we had to stop trying to resuscitate Josephine, but I didn't get to tell her any of the things I wanted to."

"I hope you get the chance."

"Me, too."

The next day, John woke up to find that he had been sleeping bent over beside Josephine. Elizabeth was there as well, and Josephine was looking between the two of them.

"Hey," John said to her.

Josephine smiled. "Hi."

"How do you feel?"

"Bored," Josephine said.

"I'll find Carson and see if you can get up."

He got up, walking through the med bay to where Carson was standing talking to an assistant.

"How's our patient doing?" He asked when the assistant had walked away.

"Bored, apparently. Do you think she can get up? She might like to see the city."

"Let's give it a look." Carson walked with John back to where Josephine was curtained off from the rest of the room.

They were both surprised to find her talking cheerily to Elizabeth. "I really want to see if I can help figure out the address," she was saying.

"Let's make sure you're up for it first, love." Carson walked forward, checking her pulse and the monitors near her bed.

"I feel fine."

"You were shot; I think that leads for concern." Carson said, before reaching to look under her bandage. He stared at it for a moment in amazement before saying, "This is bloody impossible."

"What?"

"She's completely healed." Carson removed the bandage to reveal that there was no bruise, stitches, or mark.

"She was ascended." Elizabeth reminded him. "We encountered this before with Chaya. She was in perfect health and said that the people on her planet all healed quickly because she was able to heal them."

"I guess, but I want to run a blood test just to be sure."

"Sure of what?" Josephine asked looking to John as Carson took her arm, cleaning a small sot with alcohol before inserting the needle.

"I'm hoping what I think he's thinking is wrong," John answered nervously.

Josephine looked from John to Elizabeth to Carson before stating, "You think I have some wraith DNA."

Carson took out the needle, handing it to an assistant who had just come around the curtain. "I don't know how that would be possible, but it's happened before where Colonel Sheppard here," he indicated John as he said this, "got infected because of a retro virus we had created. It was causing him to turn into a wraith and he seemed unable to control it."

"How would I have been infected by wraith DNA though?" Josephine asked as she sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

"That might not even be the case," Carson assured her.

"But before we let you out of the infirmary and start walking around the city, we just want to be sure." Elizabeth added.

Josephine nodded to them, before staring down at the floor.

After waiting and waiting, the blood results were presented to Carson, who stared down at them confusedly.

"What is it?" John asked apprehensively.

Carson looked up at him, seeming to suddenly remember that he wasn't alone. "Well, it's weird. Most of the DNA matches yours."

John sighed. "And?"

"What do you mean 'and?'" Carson asked. "Josephine could be your bloody child."

"I already know that she is, so can we keep this quiet and move on."

When Carson made to say something else, Elizabeth stepped in. "Carson, why has she healed so quickly?"

Carson looked at Elizabeth before referring back to the computer pad in his hands. "Well, I guess part of it is because she has a higher Ancient gene ratio."

"Which means what?" John inquired.

"Well, for most people with the gene, there's an a thousand to one ratio, meaning that for every one thousand DNA strands, there could be one strand made of just the Ancient gene. General O'Neill has a gene ratio of five hundred to one, where as some one with gene therapy might have a ratio anywhere between one thousand and that. Up until now, you had the highest ratio I had seen of anyone coming from Earth to Atlantis with a one hundred to one ratio."

"And Josephine has a higher ratio?"

"Higher than I ever imagined seeing, yes," Carson said. "The test shows that she has a one to twenty ratio."

Everyone just stared at Carson for a moment before John said trying to get exactly what this meant. "So you're saying—"

"That she has one strand of normal DNA to every twenty strands that could be made of the Ancient gene alone."


	7. Chapter 7 Reestabish

Chapter 7—Reestablish

A/N- Sorry it's been so long but I hope you like this. It's been written a while, but I thought I had posted it already. Anywho, enjoy. Review if you want.

Disclaimer-I own nothing. Pass it on.

"But doesn't that make her—" John started before Carson cut him off again.

"About as close to a living, breathing Ancient as we're likely to witness, yes."

"What's about as close to living breathing Ancient?" Rodney asked, coming around the curtain with Teyla and Ronan, eating a turkey sandwich.

There was a moment of silence as John, Elizabeth, and Carson looked to one another for someone to volunteer the answer, before all looking down at Josephine.

Josephine sighed and shook her head, before sliding off the bed to face Rodney. "I am."

Rodney laughed heartily at this. "Oh, very funny." He said. "Really, that's a good one. I commend your timing and her ability to keep a straight face, but I'm not that gullible."

"No, but you certainly are paranoid if you think we'd waste our time thinking 'Gee what would be a good joke to play on McKay today.'" John said to him impatiently, causing Rodney to laugh even harder, while Teyla and Ronan just exchanged glances of meaning.

"Okay," Rodney said, still laughing, "Prove it."

"Alright," Josephine said, causing Rodney to suddenly stop laughing. "What would prove it to you?"

As Carson was about to say something Rodney spoke, folding his arms over his chest. "If you really are as 'Ancient' as you say, then you should be able to turn on parts of the inactive city."

"Which part would you like on first?" Josephine asked, folding her arms over her chest in a mocking way.

"There's a lab that hasn't been restored in the south pier that no one's been working on." Rodney said. "Let's see what you can do."

He signaled towards the door with his sandwich, and Josephine walked briskly to the door and down the hall to the nearest transporter, followed closely by the entire entourage that had been with her in the infirmary.

The transporter was barely big enough for all of them, but somehow they managed it. Josephine hit the place on the city map where they needed to go.

Once they had piled out of the transporter and had reached the inactive part of the pier, odd things began to happen. The hall lights suddenly began to turn on and doors that hadn't had power to open since they had discovered the city were opening. When they reached the lab, only the data tables were off. Josephine glanced around the room before moving from one table to the next, merely putting a hand to it before moving to the next one, leaving Rodney to follow her to examine the suddenly active tables.

"Satisfied?" Josephine asked, raising an eyebrow when she had finished bringing everything in the room on line.

Before McKay could say anything, Carson spoke. "That's not all that's unusual."

"What else?" Elizabeth asked.

"She has a similar Wraith DNA that Teyla has."

"What? How?" John asked.

"I have no clue, but at least we know that it's safe for her to walk freely through the city."

John smiled. "Well that's good news. Perhaps she would like a tour."

Josephine looked up at him beaming before skipping out of the room, singing as she went, "I get to see the city, I get to see the city."

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The first place she insisted on seeing was the control room. They arrived only to see find Carter staring at a computer screen.

"What are you doing?" Josephine asked coming up beside her.

"Hey," Sam said looking up at her. "Are you allowed out?"

"Yes, Doctor Beckett said I was fine."

"That's good."

"Have you found out anything else out about the address?" Josephine asked.

"Only that I can't dial it from here. I was hoping that you would be able to help."

Josephine looked up to John before looking back to Sam. "The only thing that I can think of is something that we were theorizing."

"We?" Sam asked looking to John confusedly.

"She means her mom. They ascended together…apparently."

"Yes," Josephine said. "We did. When we were ascended, she always had us watching over the Stargate program. The day you came to Atlantis, that's where our focus was most. She told me that one day we'd find a way to help defeat the Wraith forever and make sure that those in Atlantis would be safe. That's why I'm here." She moved to look at the screen before Sam. "But, the important thing is that there's an Ancient on this plain that can help me learn what I'll need to get us to the planet."

"Who?" Sam asked.

Before Josephine answered, John realized who she meant. "Chaya."


	8. Chapter 8 Revoke

4

Chapter 8- Revoke

A/N- I'm sort of upset that Carter is going to be taking over Atlantis. It gives me the feeling that something very…very bad is going to happen to Elizabeth (note that I wrote this author's note before season 4). Oh, and sorry it's been so long. I meant to finish this chapter and post it, but then the thing in the series with Carson, plus finals--which turned into summer homework--distracted me.

Any who, here we go: Chapter 8.

Oh, and if you're reading this for the romance, it should be coming soon

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John rushed towards Elizabeth's office just as she was coming up the stairs, staring down at the screen of a computer pad.

Looking up in surprise, she called after him as he went speeding by, "What's up John?"

He spun around on his heels before beginning to speak without stopping for a breath. "We need to go to Proculus to talk to Chaya about the address Josephine had when she went to Colonel Carter and—"

"Okay, slow down and explain it to me." Elizabeth said, walking around her desk and sitting down.

Just as he was about to plow into the explanation after taking a deep breath, Josephine came into the office. "We need to talk to talk to Athar."

Elizabeth looked confusedly from her to John. "She means Chaya. We think she's the only one who can help her get what she needs to know about the planet that she had the address for."

Elizabeth looked surprised to say the least. "Enlighten me as to what exactly you hope to find there."

"I can't be sure without talking to Athar, but I have a memory of my mom telling me that the address would be important to what we were doing, and though I remember asking her why it was so important, there seems to be a gap in my memory and I don't have much to go on to help get you there. But I know for a fact that Athar was one of our friends that helped us when ever we got a chance to talk."

Elizabeth sighed, before saying to John, "Alright, get your team and SG-1. You can meet in the jumper bay and debark in ten minutes."

"I need to go too," Josephine said simply, causing John to stop mid stride on his way out the door.

"I don't think—" John began, spinning back around to face her, before getting cut off.

"No, you don't understand, I have to be there. In order to get what we want, you have to be known to be part of the little ascended reliance we have going. If she does know anything, she'll only talk to me."

"Why not just have faith in the persuasive ability of your—" she caught herself, changing what she was about to say quickly. "—John Sheppard here?" Elizabeth asked, causing him to turn pink.

"I know what you're thinking—and I don't care if you call him my father, I already knew that you knew—and this has nothing to do with my being young, though I acknowledge that my dad is a little more skilled at negotiation than I am. But that's not the question. The question is how will he be able to get information that she has sworn not to give to anyone, seeing as it would put quite a few friends of hers in danger of being sent back here with no memory of any of this, making it so that all of this could be lost forever." When a worried silence was all that remained, Josephine nodded before walking out of the office calling over her shoulder, "I'll be waiting for you at puddle jumper one."

Just as she was leaving, Rodney came running up the stairs and into her office, Carson close behind him.

"We have a problem." McKay informed them.

"So what else is new?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, Elizabeth," McKay said breathlessly urgent. "This is something you're both going to want to hear. And now."

"What are you two going on about McKay? We've got a mission to get going on."

"Yes, well, excuse me for caring about the city and the Josie—"

"Josephine," John corrected automatically. Soaphime had always hated when people shortened names, especially if—like Rodney—you just couldn't be bothered to remember the real one. _'You were given the name for a reason, no matter how much you hate it. There's no point in trying to hide it_," as she'd always said whenever they met someone knew and they told her to call them by a nickname.

He couldn't help but smile at this, thinking about what she would have said if she had known McKay and he had tried to get her to call him Rodney instead of his birth name.

"Whatever," he responded.

"What do you mean when you say that Rodney?" Elizabeth asked.

"I was having a look at the readings that were produced from when we tried to get her memory back with the device and comparing them to those of Vala's. If you take into account the scans and tests that Doctor McKay here has done so far on the girl, there's only bad news and worse news." He paused for dramatic effect but Sheppard was in no mood for it at the moment.

"And what is it?"

McKay and Beckett exchanged nervous glances before Carson spoke. "Well the bad news is that Josephine has too many active areas of the brain."

"Yeah," McKay chimed in. "Like in Kyle XY, only worse."

"Which means?" Doctor Weir asked, trying to keep her calm.

"Haven't you seen—" McKay began, but Carson cut across, noticing the annoyed look on the Colonel's face.

"It means that she has a high likelihood of tumors, strokes and seizures."

"Yes, thank you," Elizabeth said. "But—."

"What's the worse news?" John interrupted.

"Well," McKay for the first time looked apprehensive to give the information, but spoke on anyways. "It would seem that the machine had a sort of negative effect on her."

"What sort of negative effect?" John asked, taking a step closer to Rodney.

"Well…um…you see," McKay stuttered before Carson took over.

"It seems to have made it so that the active parts of the brain are spreading their…for lack of a better word, activity, even farther faster as if to flood the brain with as much energy as possible, which will cause the effects of it to take place that much sooner."

"But you can reverse it can't you?" John was beginning to panic. He had only just met Josephine; he hadn't even had a chance to teach her golf or—

"I have no idea how you would even begin to try," Carson answered solemnly.

"You mentioned something about all this effecting the city," Elizabeth added, trying to keep focused.

"We have no idea the things she could do if she was stayed in the city. She might be able to make zed-PMs or—"

"So basically when you refer to the city, you're thinking selfishly?"

Rodney looked around for support, but finding none, admitted, "Well…yes."

Elizabeth looked to John, but he wasn't looking back, consumed by a miserable feeling. "Carson," she said, wanting to get him and McKay out of the office so that she could console the colonel. "I want you and Doctor McKay to work together on finding a way to fix this."

"Of course," Beckett said, pulling McKay away before he had a chance to protest.


End file.
